Author Topic: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"  (Read 43981 times)

Ranmilia

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #450 on: December 08, 2018, 05:04:22 AM »
Ninja Sex Party - Didn't do much for me.  These tracks are supposed to earworm, it didn't, not much else to say.

Red Velvet - Standard Kpop fare, nothing too out of the ordinary but I liked the vocals and a few of the touches here and there.  Not bad.

Within Temptation - The static effects in this destroy my headphones, wow.  Anyway it is yon metal protest song.  Continually relevant, good soundscape.  Nothing too out of the ordinary here either.

Beast in Black - Ah - now this stands out.  Immediately grabs me with the guitar, keeps the energy high and doesn't let go.  Makes me want to sing along with it. 

DJ Earworm - These mashups are always cool conceptually!  I couldn't pick too much out of this one though. 

Anne Marie & James Arthur - Good vocals, pleasant to listen to.

Beast in Black definitely stands out to me.  The rest all kind of in an average to above average cloud. 

Beast in Black > Anne Marie & James Arthur > Red Velvet > Within Temptation > DJ Earworm > Ninja Sex Party

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #452 on: December 14, 2018, 09:55:53 PM »
Shensea - Is a song that exists.  Plus points for kink positivity.  Minus points for autotune that gets overwhelming at points, giving it a sort of soulless manufactured feel to me.  Pleasant enough to listen to, but it'd be hard for me to vote this over decent competition.

Kiesza - Good contrast to Sensea, plenty of soul here!  Made me laugh, even got some Christmas spirit up in there.  Nothing mindblowing musically, but I can certainly see this winning.

Arch Enemy - Hmmm.  Very vocally focused on the contrast between the clean and growl sections.  Didn't quiiiite click for me but I see roughly what's going on and it's a good listen.  About on the same level as Kiesza.

Laura Pausini - Pleasant in the moment but forgettable.  Not much to say on this one.

smooth mcgroove - Likely winner, knocks it out of the park for me.  Vocals, tone and the background+clapping come together perfectly with Smooth's style and explode into a lot more than his game covers.  Clean, clear and direct.

trax - "Ok, smooth's way out in front, that was great, easy win unless this trax song does something spectacular."  *listens*  "... ah, heck, it did.  Now I have to think."  Very crunchy 3 part blend, drop delayed to 2 minutes and after the guitar is pretty great.  Way above the standard kpop I went in expecting to hear, and definitely a standout for the week.

Interesting week.  Sorts out easily to three pairs of two: Smooth/trax on top, then Kiesza/Arch Enemy, and Shensea/Laura Pausini.  The order of each pair is a tossup.  I'll leave em in that order for now I guess.

smooth mcgroove > trax > Kiesza > Arch Enemy > Shensea > Laura Pausini

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #453 on: December 16, 2018, 11:47:46 AM »
Ugh meant to get around to typing this up earlier but just cut to the chase since it is late.

Archenemy wins in a walk to me, but I have zero complaints or issues with the TraxX song.  It hits all the right beats.   I am just in an Archenemy mood.
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

metroid composite

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #454 on: December 16, 2018, 04:20:26 PM »
Alright, well let's see, I think Shensea and Laura Pausini were on top for me, but not by tons and not registering with Alex or grefter so alright, good feedback, not picking those.

Looks like it's between smooth mcgroove (alex's #1), Arch Enemy (Grefter's #1) or trax (#2 for gref/alex).

Also worth noting last three weeks have been muse, too many zooz, and Beast in Black, so...two metal-ish songs, so that's probably going to be a strike against Arch Enemy.  But ok, re-listening now.


EDIT: ok, Smooth Mcgroove actually stood out comforatbly ahead of the other two on a re-listen, so I guess I'm going with that.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2018, 06:28:02 PM by metroid composite »

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #455 on: December 21, 2018, 04:02:36 AM »
So...I was originally thinking we would do a Christmas song this week (and go back and pick out some of the ones I skipped over).

Buuut then the week started out with Myrath and Justice and I was like "ok, maybe too much competition for that."  I think the Red Velvet might be a repeat, except this is the English version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2rKORvyOcM
Myrath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8NHebm4nTY
Justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NFBXxwOwvg
Pentatonix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lesEoC6h4pI
Icon for Hire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjqFa7dpSqY
Red Velvet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY8tZQsXbrA
Smooth McGroove


Ranmilia

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #456 on: December 21, 2018, 07:38:28 AM »
Myrath - Killer style and production, as always.  Lacks the overflowing emotiveness of some of their other stuff, this one is a little more "stuff happens" than any particular theme, but production is so high it's a strong contender anyway.

Justice - Wowww.  What a love letter to marching band.  Really conveys the love of music it can instill in people.  And oh yeah, track's a banger.  Easy top tier.

Pentatonix - It is Pentatonix singing about Christmas, as they do. 

Icon for Hire - Music's not bad but lyrics were rough for me, just doesn't hit my head's way of dealing with these issues. 

Red Velvet - Still good.

Smooth McGroove - Decent cover, but it's hard to go back to these after the last few Smooth vocals.

Justice wayyyy ahead of everything else here.  Christmas is a consideration, but this Pentatonix doesn't do as much for me as the out of season ones we saw around, what was it, early November?

Justice > Myrath > Red Velvet > Smooth McGroove > Icon for Hire > Pentatonix

metroid composite

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #457 on: January 05, 2019, 02:51:36 AM »
I've been back to work for two days, have a few songs I guess, including some year end mashups.  This might be a low quality week where we just pick from a previous week though; I only have 5 songs, and I haven't done my usual filtering pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTuR-e6aLRo
Seventeen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HolKYIFg-DA
Sam Tsui

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YVwtb8pZZY
Robin Skouteris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L15ZZX9n56M
Chung Ha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZVV0LZ3rYU
Enrique Iglesias

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #458 on: January 10, 2019, 04:09:38 AM »
Seventeen - Doesn't evoke any emotion.

Sam Tsui - Doesn't evoke any emotion, except for throwing in a lot of "God's plan" which... is not really positive, but doesn't matter because this is up against a similar mashup compilation that I liked a lot more.

Robin Skouteris - As above, I liked this a lot more than the previous two!  It is 13 minutes long but does seem to maintain consistent quality throughout, it sounds good no matter where I click.

Chung Ha - Decent.  Hard call over/under the super long mashup, but if 13 minutes is too long this is good. 

Enrique Iglesias - Is fine, kinda similar to Chung Ha in where it hits me but not quite as hard.  A little hard to reconcile the vocals with the instruments.

Yeah none of these are super impressive, a previous week would be fine too.  (I know this is SUPER late, oops!)  13 minutes is a bit long, IIRC something was said about an upper limit of less than that, but not taking that into account for ranking.

Robin Skouteris > Chung Ha > Enrique Iglesias > Seventeen > Sam Tsui

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #459 on: January 11, 2019, 03:48:24 AM »
I swear, the musicians are not back from vacation yet or something, because I barely got to 6 songs this week.  And nothing super high profile (Some country and kpop and youtube electric guitar covers).  Aaaaaaaand Pinkfong.  I kid you not, Pinkfong is on the Billboard top 40 in America AND on the Billboard top 20 in the UK.  I guess it went viral?  Honestly not too far from some overly cutesy Touhou memes I like, but I'm not expecting Gref/Alex to like it >_>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsiPBiKLJsA
Randy Houser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJ3Pq74H4c
Red Velvet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqszm7AnX-4
ikon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnRpdEbnyw0
Greyish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ZONrzvjYA
331Erock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SgMN0V9d9o
Pinkfong

Ranmilia

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #460 on: January 12, 2019, 04:12:07 AM »
Randy Houser - Sure is a country song.  I am not qualified to evaluate this well, it seems pretty standard stuff?

Red Velvet - Sure is a female kpop song.

ikon - Sure is a male kpop song.  It's okay.

Greyish - Sure is a loligoth kpop song.

331Erock - Not familiar with the original but this seems fine?  Metalish, simple, emphasis on technique and the tech is good. 

Pinkfong - Pinkfong.

It's probably the pick.  Liberate tuteme ex inferis.  I'm a little torn between the top two and will take the excuse to not put it at the top but as you say it's pretty popular... otherwise this is basically Personal Genre Preference: The List as none of the other four rise above "it was that kinda song."

331Erock > Pinkfong > Greyish > Red Velvet > ikon > Randy Houser

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #462 on: January 19, 2019, 04:00:41 AM »
Amaranthe - I'm still in a dream, snake eater.  Good stuff, high production value, well composed, great voices, good lyrics blah blah top contender. 

Boy Pierce - Was ambivalent at first, warmed up considerably as more lines came in.  Very effective structure.  Surprisingly very good.

Monarchy - Good but bounced off of me somewhat.  Feels like it should be heavier than it is. 

Born of Osiris - This on the other hand is a bit too heavy too fast for me.  I get the mood, but there are three good metal tracks this week and this lacks the polish of Amaranthe or Delain.

Delain - See Amaranthe.  It does feel like a checklist of genre tropes and standard lines, but they're effective for a reason, you know what you're going to hear immediately and it delivers.

Favourite - Kpop comin in hot.  Standard genre entry, not bad, nothing that really stands out to me.

So the big question here is Amaranthe vs Delain.  I think I side Delain, it's close, I'm a sucker for a narrative I can tease out.  BUT ALL THAT IS A TRICK because actually my favorite is Boy Pierce.  It's very, very effective with its simple structure and build, it surprises and makes me feel things.  Strong week though.  I look forward to seeing Kaitlyn and Grefter's thoughts on Monarchy because I really am not sure what I'm supposed to be feeling on that one.

Boy Pierce > Delain > Amaranthe > Monarchy > Born of Osiris > Favourite

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #463 on: January 25, 2019, 03:46:28 AM »
Seems like a strong week in theory; more than one artist who have been repeat picks in the past.  This week's options:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv5_CXdv1lc
LSD (lil Wayne remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMZqT96O8aE
Grey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZzhUPe-Bck
Battle Beast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EANtOg0S1Jw
Le Butcherettes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om80Y_V3fhw
Crazy Ex Girlfriend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWHayNNgu7Y
Amine

Ranmilia

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #464 on: January 25, 2019, 07:33:57 AM »
Battle Beast > Amine > LSD/lil wayne > Crazy Ex Girlfriend > Le Butcherettes > Grey

Not in a great state for writeups.  Battle Beast wayyy out in front for me though.

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #465 on: January 27, 2019, 07:04:03 AM »
Hmm...alright, LSD was slightly out in front for me, but I didn't have a strong preference.  Alex having a really strong preference for Battle Beast I'll go with that.

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #466 on: February 01, 2019, 04:27:55 AM »
Hmmm....seems like a weaker set than last week at first glance, but let's see what other people think.  Finalists this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8fTk6oKQg
Dua Lipa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai3LrJ2MPSs
Lord of the Lost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHpEwCrBh1g
Merk & Kremont

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ84-ZNHagY
Sadie Stanley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhD4tNqQiN4
Wolfpack & eastblock bitches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZffRfIkKpqA
Rob lundgren

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #467 on: February 01, 2019, 03:29:38 PM »
Dua Lipa - I had to check who did writing on this because this really sounds/feels like a Sia copy.  It looks like it isn't and it is its own beast, but checking the 6 names associated with writing it (one of which is Dua Lipa so thumbs up), but I did see Thomas Holkenborg, which is cool.  That is Junkie XL.  Junkie XL tracks fucken bounce.   The track is pretty clean and cool which is up my ally.  I have noooooo idea how this is a Battle Angel Alita track though
 

Lord of the Lost - Remember that stuff I say about Rammstein all the time?   That applies here.  It doesn’t quite have the same lyricalimpact that excites me like Death Stars does, but if I want clean vocals from a strong baritone sung over some groans synth and and guitar, this delivers it well.   I like this an unfair amount.

Merk & Kremont - This on the other hand is incredibly slight.   There is not heaps to this.  That doesn’t mean bad just kinda eh.   Some of the verses feel like some Nicki Minaj flow before she really picks up tempo and Nicki is a good thing to remind me of, but that is about all it does.  It rolls into a meandering chorus of nothing.

Sadie Stanley - Usual Disney disclaimer of I am just not the audience for it.  I have no idea what to even do with this.   It is like... a 90s pop song?   With one of the worst endings I have heard this year, the song just hard cuts off.’ Okay

Wolfpack & eastblock bitches - we are doing hard dance again but with trap synths instead of eurobeat and house tones?    I am probably heavily bossing this to my youth, but I prefer it with eurobeat/house style over trap, and that is as someone that never shuts up about dirty trap beats being great.   I dunno.   I wanted to go in o. This dance track only being 3 minutes long, but there is definitely versions of Operation Blade that I known I like that are 1 second longer than this.   So that is overlookinngbyhet obviously there is versions that play our longer thsbrre

Rob lundgren - I dunno it is late and I am tired and just gave hmethisnno time of day

lord of the Lost > Dua Lippa > Wolfpack and Wastbkock Bitches is my top 3
« Last Edit: February 01, 2019, 04:23:07 PM by Grefter »
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #468 on: February 01, 2019, 10:52:24 PM »
Dua Lipa - Reasonable bounce to it.  Very very movie aesthetic. 

Lord of the Lost - This was just okay until the crunch around 2:45 and then yeah I am sold.  Crunches like a good breakfast cereal.

Merk and Kremont - Video was amusing but I'm not sure about the TTS in a song like this.  Hm.  I dunno.  Wasn't bad.

Sadie Stanley - So I was talking with some friends about the Kim Possible movie the other day, and one of them commented "Yeah but the reason people liked that show is that they had a crush on Kim."  It's... uncomfortably true, and maybe just proximity of that conversation but I'm seeing a lot of that in this song.  "Call me, beep me, I can do anything" are lines with obvious double meaning and it feels jarring when combined with the nu-disneyness of the rest of the song and toplevel meanings.  It is a bouncy song on its own, but difficult to separate from context.

Wolfpack and Eastblock Bitches - Pretty standard stuff except for whatever that western trill thing is called.  Mixes in well though.

Rob Lundgren - is what it says on the tin.  Goes on a bit long, gets a bit bare for me.

So really this is Lord of the Lost > other five, and I see Grefter putting that in front as well.

Lord and Lost > Merk and Kremont > Wolfpack and Eastblock > Dua and Lipa > Sadie and Kim > Rob and Mr. Mister

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #469 on: February 03, 2019, 04:06:04 PM »
Huh, alright, Lord of the Lost was the one I had on top too; wasn't expecting a 3 way unanimous, but this definitely seems worth picking now.

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #470 on: February 08, 2019, 03:23:10 AM »
Bunch of artists this week I recognize are good, most of which have not yet been picked for one reason or another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_un9PYsE1_g
king gizzard & the lizard wizard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmWWqogr_r8
21 savage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG6en2WyAsw
Eluveitie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac5xyk03ZQ8
Metric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3nb_r18ug0
Within Temptation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQI-o02JYU
asap rocky

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #471 on: February 08, 2019, 11:11:06 AM »
king gizzard & the lizard wizard - I can't name the song that the groove is from but I recognize it, it's very memorable.  A good, soothing listen, although may overstay its welcome a bit.  Just gets blown out by the rest of this pack being super strong.

21 savage - Well 21 Savage is in current events news, so I'm looking at this right away.  Takes a while (almost 3 minutes) to get to the good stuff but is quite good once it gets there.  Sort of a response to This Is America, huh.  Yeah it will be hard not to pick this unless something else here is super outstanding.

Eluveitie - Okay, yes, very good.  Sufficient faceblasting and a very nice blend of death/scream and melodic/folk metalstuffs.  You'd think this would be a common thing but I haven't heard it much and they pull it off very well.

Metric - Also quite good, I like the high/low contrast.  Also surprise Mae Borowski cameo.

Within Temptation - Is fine.  A bit slow, I guess that is the idea, but doesn't strike me as much as Eluveitie.

ASAP Rocky - Wow, neat.  Definitely the most interesting of the week musically, if not the most directly enjoyable.  Though... it's not far down on that metric either, for me, once I listen to the whole thing.  Hrrrm.  Hrm. 

Wow, strong week.  Really strong.  Started off expecting to just rubber stamp 21 Savage, and then challengers from multiple completely different directions appear.  Music exists in context, though, and 21 Savage is subtly very good... I wrestled with putting Eluveitie over it, then Metric, and finally I will succumb to personal appeal and actually do it for ASAP Rocky.  But really all of these are great.  Top 4 are all in that "should win and would autoslam a weaker pack" range.

ASAP Rocky > 21 Savage > Eluveitie > Metric > gizzard lizard wizard > Within Temptation

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #472 on: February 10, 2019, 04:12:19 PM »
Hmm...alright, the one that ended up on top for me was actually king gizzard & the lizard wizard.  I didn't like it that much on first listen and it slowly moved up when I had songs on repeat, though, so probably not a good pick.

I'm not sure I fully get ASAP Rocky.  It's interesting, and different, but I'm not sure I can explain what's going on musically in a writeup (other than explaining that the video is cool).  Think I have an easier time explaining 21 Savage, so I'll go with that I guess.

EDIT: oh wait, 21 savage is the guy who is being deported (From the US to the UK) and is currently being held in an ICE detention center.  Yeah...that's an extra topical reason to pick him.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2019, 04:29:12 PM by metroid composite »

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Re: Song selection topic for "Kaitlyn's Song of the Week"
« Reply #474 on: February 16, 2019, 03:16:10 PM »
Parry Gripp's not my personal jam, but wow, the other five are all S rank.  Mira Calix was going to be an easy win for me, if perhaps a hard justify to Semitheoretical Columnreading Grandmother.  Then Billie Eilish appears with an earful of yes please.  And Dreamcatcher and Taemin both strike hard, and Eearz and friends are also very strong and only not higher because I think we've picked a lot of similar stuff lately... wow I like it all.  What a week.


Billie Eilish > Mira Calix > Dreamcatcher > Eearz & co. > Taemin > Parry Gripp